Tarballs Hit Key West

Key West park rangers found 20 3 to 8-inch tarballs Monday that had washed up onto the shores. Tarballs are blobs of oil that become weathered after travelling through the ocean.

The samples will be analyzed to figure out where they came from, but if they’re from the BP spill, it would heighten concerns that the oil has already started entering the loop current, which would transport it into the Florida Keys and the Atlantic.

A tarball won’t necessarily hurt you, but the Coast Guard says not to touch them and report any you find.